Karuk Tribe
Council Meeting Minutes
February 25, 2010
The meeting was called to order at 4:56pm by Arch
Super, Chairman.
Roll Call
Present
Arch Super, Chairman
Florrine Super, Secretary
Leeon Hillman, Treasurer
Roy Arwood, Member
Sonny Davis, Member
Alvis Johnson, Member
Verna Reece, Member
Quorum is established.
Verna Reece read the mission statement aloud.
Approval of the Agenda for February 25, 2010
Florrine Super moved and
Verna Reece seconded to approve the agenda for February 25, 2010. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
1) Approval of
the Minutes for January 28, 2010
Verna Reece moved and
Sonny
2) Old Business
None at this time.
3) Karuk Youth
Leadership Council
They would like to wait until
all of the youth are present.
4) Mike Brown
Not present.
4a) Glenda
Hockaday
She has a question about the Medical
Clinic. She states they have called
requesting an appointment so they could come in right away and were told they
would get a call back but then never received a call. They have heard the same complaint from other
individuals. They are transferred to Don
Banhart for triage but he didn’t call them back. Sonny said they can’t even get him and
appointment in a timely manner because they are booked out so far. Glenda said that referrals are taking too
long to get scheduled as well. Arch
states they will refer these issues to Lessie for research.
She also asked that they
reconsider allowing the Elders to have pets.
Arch suggests that they take that to the Housing Committee; she states
the Housing Committee told her to speak to the Council since they set the rule
prohibiting pets due to the liability issues.
Arch states they will discuss that with Housing.
5) Leaf
Hillman, Natural Resources
Written report only, not
present. Bob states both of the children
are sick so he is not here this evening.
Sonny
6) Sandi Tripp,
Transportation
Her first action item is
approval of Agreement 10-A-031 between the Karuk Tribe and Pacific Power and
Light in the amount of $4,154 to move the overhead power lines at the Happy
Camp Administration Complex underground where they conflict with the parking
lot/road project getting ready to start.
Verna asked when they do the
parking lot, how come they are not using the eco-grid. She states she cannot remember the specific
reason they didn’t use that there but for some reason it wasn’t feasible. She states they are going to utilize native
plants and storm water to landscape the facility. Verna states that they could do repairs
easily with that product also. Leeon
recalls that there were issues with the traffic flow. It also seems that since it will be a road,
rather than parking lot it prohibited using that product.
Leeon Hillman moved and
Sonny
She requested approval of the
Referenced Funding Agreement included in the report. The amount is $93,731 and they should expect
to see two more of these. The Agreement
number is not included; the cover sheet requests a Resolution be assigned to
the Agreement since it is to receive funding; that can be done at the Planning
Meeting.
Verna Reece moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Sandi’s report. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
7) Emilio
Tripp, Education
Emilio was present to review his
written report.
He states his main project
was completion of the grant that he had been working on with Jaclyn Goodwin and
Sue Burcell; they will find out in August about that funding and he is very
hopeful. It will fund an Indian Student
Services Coordinator in both the Yreka and
He held his first Indian
Parent Committee Recruitment meeting in Happy Camp. There were ten attendees at the meeting. There are communication issues with the
Elementary School staff and parents and he is helping to work with both parties
to resolve some of those issues and identify what the problems are and how to
fix them.
He had many meetings with
departments, programs, and schools to coordinate with them.
He asked if there were any
questions on his report. He states he
did visit
He also shared that an
additional piece of the grant that could be implemented is the Mid-Klamath P16
Council which would be Preschool-College Level age individuals working together
to help the native communities from Yreka to
Verna Reece moved and
Florrine Super seconded to approve Emilio’s report. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
7a) Karuk Youth
Leadership Council
Florrine, April Attebury, and
Roxanne Strangfeld were present to award Appreciation Certificates to the youth
whose have served for the past year on the Youth Council.
Florrine states she is very proud
of their work over the last year, they are always willing to help, and they
have incorporated culture and Elders into their program which is wonderful. Roxanne states they have participated in many
activities related to furthering their education and gathering more information
in that respect; they have contributed greatly over the last year. April states that her goal was to bridge the
gap between the youth and the adults to ensure that they are working toward
fulfilling their needs and desires and get information to the leadership and
managers to better assist them in expanding services for youth and
families. Some of them traveled to
distant locations for training; they have prepared YouTube and MySpace outreach
materials. She thanked them for being
there to provide all of that valuable information and to share moments with
them throughout the last year. Their
one-year terms expired and the new Council for the coming year was appointed at
the last Council Meeting. Arch states
that is great to see these kids work together and work so hard on the Council
for the past year, he is very proud of them.
The youth presented
certificates were: Eli Hensher-Aubrey (
Skyler states that he learned
a lot while on the Council about how to be a leader a represent the Tribe and
about the culture of the Tribe. LaShanda
thanked everyone for the opportunity, they had many experiences, visited
colleges, met new people, and it was great.
Cierra is glad she had the opportunity to do this, the trips were really
fun. She states she doesn’t travel much
and was very excited to see a garlic truck; she also found that the person who
created SpongeBob Square-Pants majored in marine biology at
The upcoming Youth Council
will be: Male Co-Chair: Skyler McNeal,
Female Co-Chair: Winona Croy, Vice Chair: Ashley Allgier, Secretary: Shenai
Talley, and Members at Large: Brian Lopez, Michael Law, David Burlow, Chris
Super, Tyler Conrad, Alyssa Allgier, Kevin Harrison, and Daniela Sanchez.
8) Robert
Goodwin, Self Governance
Robert is present to review
his written report. He has been very
busy for the last month.
They recently attended the
KBRA signing in
He has been working with the
Yurok Tribe downriver to resolve issues related to their proposed boundary expansion,
he has forwarded a draft letter to the Chairman and Director of Natural
Resources for review prior to requesting Tribal Council approval.
They received notification
from BIA that they would be required to present oral testimony for budget
justifications for watershed rights in the basin and he has been working with
several staff members and the Yurok Tribe to prepare that testimony. He has also been working on testimony for
Council review in regards to funding that will allow the Tribe to participate
on equal ground with the entities they will be both working with. Laura has been helping him prepare budget
numbers based on items they have spent related to those types of projects at
the TBAC Meeting on March 15-15, 2010.
April Attebury has also
recommended him to provide testimony at the DHHS Testimony regarding ICWA
funding and what their shortfalls are in the programs that serve youth for the
Tribe next week while they are in DC.
He spoke to the Department of
Natural Resources regarding appointing
They will discuss the
Resolution for the Fish Commission at a future meeting when Leaf and Bob can
provide their input.
Verna Reece moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Robert’s report. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
9) Ruth
Rouvier, Language
Written report only, on
travel. Arch and Sonny read the phrases
of the month aloud which are yaastiik (right hand) and kututuk (left hand).
Florrine Super moved and
10) Robert
Attebery, LIAP
Robert was present to review
his written report with the Council.
He states there is a meeting
scheduled with the Contractor Tuesday to discuss starting on the first HIP home
in March. There are three other homes
awarded three years ago that they will be moving forward on as well.
Applications have slowed down
substantially, they had a record number of payments last month which was 200,
this month was 100 and it should decrease since those eligible have obtained
assistance. They have spent about 63% of
the budget at this point. They have
completed the CSD grant as well providing assistance to eligible members. There will be new CSD funds coming in this
month. The General Assistance program
does not come into play often because it only applies to members with no income
who do not qualify for any other programs and burial assistance. They are working on finalizing the SWEEP
policies and procedures so that those can be approved in the coming month so
they can reinstate the program again, they have funding available. All necessary language has to be in place
though because they have to use the funds appropriately to build an individual’s
skills to assist them in obtaining gainful employment.
11) Dion Wood,
TERO
Dion was present to
distribute his written report. He
apologized for not getting his report to them for the packets.
He states the TERO Commission
continues to develop the Workforce Protection Act to protect the
employees. The template they have
includes all OSHA language and they do not recommend doing that, they are trying
to make it more appropriate for the Tribe that is specific to the type of work
they do.
Sara will report on the bids
for the on-site Supervisor’s training which is ready to be approved for a
Contract. There are two bids for the
Cultural Monitor Training that will be reviewed to schedule an on site training
for members to become certified in that field.
Anyone interested in a Census
job need to call the 800 number and register for the required testing, a sample
test is available as well as study assistance for the test.
They held a Workforce
Development Meeting yesterday at Headway.
The programs who work on employment readiness all came together and can
assist members with GED preparation and testing, college preparation and enrollment,
and employment readiness.
He continues to meet with the
Head Start Director,
They formed a California
Tribal Child Care Administrators Association to get the Tribes recognized by
the State Department of Education. The
next meeting is March 11 in
He will be working to
coordinate the cultural reception during the National Indian Child Care
Association, it is their 20th anniversary and he has served in that
for 14 of the 20 years through the Karuk Tribe.
They are also working on testimony for childcare re-authorization which
is coming up; the Tribes only currently receive 2% of the federal funds
obligated at this time.
The Child Care Bureau is
focusing on fraud prevention and wanting to see a codified health and safety
code for the provider’s homes and facilities.
He is also working to build toy libraries in the Yreka and Happy Camp
Head Start Buildings for the kids; they are interested in doing something like
that in
Harold Peters Sr. asked if they
are working with the
Florrine Super moved and
12) Helene
Rouvier, People’s Center
Written report only, on
travel.
Roy Arwood moved and Florrine
Super seconded to approve Helene’s report.
7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
13) Jaclyn
Goodwin, Grant Writer
She was present to review her
written report.
She has one action item for
this evening which is the IMLS Grant in the amount of $7,000 for the People’s
Center which will also allow them the opportunity to apply for the Library
Grant also.
The main project she is
working on is the THPO grant that she has been working on with Leaf and Helene. She hopes to have it completed by next month.
She submitted a pre-proposal
for $250,000 to fund traditional Eco-Cultural knowledge camp that she worked
with Ron and Craig on. It will help to
develop further education and cultural activities for the Tribe.
She states that she really
appreciates having Sue’s help writing the Department of Education Grant; she is
still new and really appreciates the help to re-develop the baseline data of
where the students need assistance, that data can be used for future grants as
well.
She assisted Buster Attebery
with a small grant to the Redding Rancheria for sports clinic training
equipment for $5,000.
They will be working on determining
the goal for this year’s HUD ICDBG Grant since the third wing has been denied twice
now. It can be used for construction
which is limited so they want to get the grant and put it to good use.
Verna Reece moved and
14) Laura
Mayton, Finance
Laura is present to review
her written report. She only had one
action item, which was approved at their meeting earlier this week.
They received the Indirect
Cost Proposal back with a rate of 66.56% which as been signed and submitted,
they will then have their approved rate for this Fiscal Year. Last year’s rate was 71%; this rate is more
consistent with what it has been the past several years. The lower rate is not such a burden to the
programs.
In keeping with her new
reporting pattern she states this month she will provide them with highlights
on their overall financial health without individual program detail. At the end of FY09 there was just over 6
million dollars in the bank for the many different programs they administer.
The People’s Center is doing
much better, they are now at break even and if they continue in this pattern
they should begin making a profit. They
have also changed the accounting system for the gift shop to be more similar to
a business enterprise rather than governmental entity to more accurately
reflect their financial transactions.
In 2001 the Indirect Cost
Pool had all fringe benefits charged to the pool for all employees regardless
of their program; in 2001 they were disallowed $425,000 for those expenses,
which was finally taken off the books this past year. In 2009 they received 1.9 million from the
revenue sharing trust fund.
During the year, the Tribe’s
annual payroll was over 5 million dollars.
They also contributed $232,000 to 401(k)’s.
Florrine Super moved and
15) Ann
Escobar, KTHA
She provided updates to the
written report included in the packets.
For the home grant program the
Peter’s project had a site visit last week, demo has been completed on the
cabin and the new home has been delivered.
The KTHA warehouse and data
center is moving forward, there are some potential changes to the HVAC design,
requested changes by IT which will result in additional costs and some
redesigning.
Sami and Verna visited DC and
have identified a sponsor for draft legislation for the renewable energy
project. KTHA received notice that the
total Tribal enrollment will be used for the KTHA grant resulting in 3.4
million for 2010; this may be an increase over 2009. The upcoming 2011 budget has reduced IHBG
funding to 580 million which is the lowest since the passage of NAHASDA, this
is only a request at this time, there will be many discussions between the
House and Senate before this matter is settled, they will advocate for the
Tribe’s needs. Numerous House/Senate
members are retiring and not seeking reappointment, a complete list will be
distributed before Arch’s trip to DC next week.
With ARRA funding they are
replacing all of the appliances in KTHA with new ones resulting in a surplus to
be sold at a discounted rate. They will
work on details for distributing them at the rate of $50 each to be picked up. They will be sold on a first come, first
serve basis. Laura suggests that there
be some sort of stipulation that there be preference to local families, Tribal
Members, Descendents, etc. so that a distributor doesn’t buy them all in one
shot.
Florrine inquired about the
Yreka Laundromat, Ann states it is getting ready to re-open. They have also filled the Security
Coordinator position with an individual by the name of Joe Kleinschmidt. She will be taking him around to introduce
him to the community members. He is
working mostly weekends and evenings and has a cell phone.
Verna Reece moved and
Alvis Johnson seconded to approve Ann’s report.
7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
16) Erin
Hillman, Administrative Programs/Compliance
Not present, written only.
17) April
Attebury, Tribal Court
She was present to review her
written report with the Council.
She briefly highlighted what
she has been working on over the past month.
The court oversees several projects that the Tribe has funds for; one is
the Tribal Youth Program, with a Youth Coordinator who works in the schools and
along with LCSW’s provides groups for the students in the County school
system. There will be Youth Advisors
implemented to work with the youth in the coming year, they also have the
Circles of Care planning grant to streamline programs and have a comprehensive
system of care incorporating language and culture into their program
activities.
They have a new project which
has an action item linked to for a Program Coordinator for the DOJ/OVW Grants
to Indian Governments to develop a program to design and implement education
and prevention campaigns to reduce violence in the communities. She hopes to have the position based in the
Florrine Super moved and
The second action item she
has is Agreement 10-A-029 between the Karuk Tribe and
Florrine Super moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Agreement 10-A-029 with
She has two additional items
that were not included in the packet.
The first is Contract 10-C-043 with Gary Bess and Associates in the amount
of $18,000 to provide evaluation services in connection with the Karuk Tribe’s
Circles of Care Grant/Project. She had
hoped to be able to introduce them to the Council this evening. She states they are slightly behind on this
project and she hopes that they can get back on track quickly.
The other Contract she is
requesting assistance on is to provide legal consultation for legal assistance
and education project. Contract 10-C-042
has been assigned to Stephanie Dolan at the rate of $4,000 per month, not to
exceed $24,000 plus travel expenses.
18) Jim Berry,
KCDC
He was present to review the
written report, he has no action items.
Audit work has been their
primary focus during the past month. On
March 6, Sue Burcell, will be presenting one of her training series at the
Computer Center which will be on developing a business plan.
He thanked Dion for
coordinating the Workforce Development Meeting this week; they have scheduled a
follow up meeting for May. They now have
Workforce Development Specialists in all three communities now.
Scott Nelson has been hired
for Yreka through the ANA Grant and is present this evening to be introduced to
the Tribal Council. He states he is
still familiarizing himself with staff.
He states he had an individual who came in today to inquire about
fire-fighting but was expressing hesitancy to continue in that field since he
is in his late 30’s, he has since talked to the person more about getting their
GED and getting out of that field so that they could move forward with a career
and education in another field. That is
what he hopes to do for the community.
He is based in the
Jim states they are working
coordinating some fire fighting training for new and returning staff. They are also working on coordinating a Job
Fair in Happy Camp. Their target group
for the ANA grant is fire fighting and fuels reduction workers so that is their
primary focus; they may have them in Yreka and
Verna Reece moved and
Leeon Hillman seconded to approve Jim’s report.
7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0 pupitihara.
19) Fred
Burcell, Maintenance
Written only, not present, no
action items.
20) TJ Day,
Maintenance
No report, not present.
21) Sara
Spence, Human Resources
She was present to review her
written report.
She requested approval of Contract
10-C-046 with SkillPath Seminars for $6,000 to do an on-site Supervisor’s
Training in May.
Verna Reece moved and Sonny
22) Requests
None at this time.
23) Phone Votes
a)
Request approval
for Florrine Super to travel to Sacramento CA., February 22, 2010. Passed.
b)
Request approval
of the Yreka Basket Class Leader position description. Passed.
c)
Request approval
to provide a loan to Tribal Member #2724 in the amount of $832.00 with payments
of $70.56 per pay period. Passed.
d)
Request approval
to close all tribal offices in observation of the passing of a full blooded
tribal member. Passed.
e)
Request approval
of a support letter to the National Indian Health Board for creation of a
regional resource center. Passed.
f)
Request approval
of out of state travel for
g)
Request approval
to pay $233.00 power bill for #7888. Passed.
h)
Request approval
of (A-1) to contract 09-C-046 between the Karuk Tribe and Schlumpberger
Consulting Engineers, Inc. for $1,430.00. Passed.
24)
Informational
None at this time.
25) Committee
Reports
The NCIDC Meeting Minutes
were included in the packet.
Closed Session from 8:01pm to 9:50pm
Florrine Super moved and
Sonny
The request from Tribal
Member #2734 was tabled to the Health Board Meeting next week.
There will not be a quorum
for the Health Board Meeting on March 9; they will cancel the Planning Meeting
on March 4 and hold the Health Board Meeting that afternoon instead beginning at
3pm.
Florrine Super excused herself.
Directive: For the Self Governance Coordinator to
contact Tribal Member #4084 to discuss his concerns.
Florrine Super returned to the meeting.
The request from Tribal
Member #3539 was tabled to the Health Board Meeting next week.
Reminder: Council Members need to request Council
approval of all travel for audit purposes and report back to the remainder of
the Council regarding information gathering at meetings.
Alvis Johnson moved and
Sonny
Florrine Super moved and
Florence Conrad seconded to approve covering expenses for dumpsters, porta potties,
and potable water for Karuk Ceremonies for the 2009 season from
discretionary. 7 haa, 0 puuhara, 0
pupitihara.
Next Meeting Date:
March 25, 2010 at 5pm in Happy
Camp.
Meeting adjourned at 9:55pm.
Submitted by,
________________________________
Arch Super, Chairman
Recording Secretary, Sara Spence